Summer Snacks

Shrimp Spaghetti Squash with Lemon Herb Sauce, Banana Bread, and Cucumber Lime Mint Sorbet

Today was a super slow day at work, so I left early, swung by the grocery store for a couple of cucumbers, limes, eggs, and peonies (just because!), and came home to be crafty in the kitchen!! And boy was I productive! I made some of the tastiest fresh foods that I have in a while, and it was super healthy too!!

Shrimp Spaghetti Squash with Lemon Herb Sauce

This one is super easy to make, and a serving is only 3 WW points!

Ingredients

1 spaghetti squash
Juice of 1 lemon
1 Tbsp butter
6 oz shrimp
1 garlic clove, minced
A dash each of tarragon, marjoram, thyme, salt, pepper (to taste)

For spaghetti squash, I always cut it in half, remove the seeds, and place it open-side down in a glass pan with about 2" water. I microwave it for 15 minutes, and it's ready to go! I've heard tale that you can stab a spaghetti squash (helps with anger management!) and just cook it whole and steam it from the inside out, but I have yet to try it!

While it's cooking, use a little butter or spray oil to slowly cook the garlic on a medium heat. Add the shrimp, herbs, and at the end butter and lemon. When the squash is done, add it to the mix and dish it out! Since it's so low in points, a bit of parmesan might be a nice touch! We didn't have any or I would've tried it!

Banana Bread

We had leftover bananas that were on the edge of needing to be thrown out, so what better way to use them than banana bread? This recipe had amazing reviews so I figured I'd give it a shot! Just cut the whole thing in half and voila!

Ingredients

1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
2 bananas, finely crushed
3/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp vanilla

dash of cinnamon (my addition)

Rather than one loaf pan, I'd purchased on a whim some little mini paper loaves which are too cute!  They make a serving size slightly larger than a single piece, probably, so each mini loaf is 7 WW points (whoops!) - but they're perfect for sharing with your honey!!

Cucumber Lime Mint Sorbet

Last but certainly not least (actually it was the first thing I made since it takes so long!) was the incredibly fresh and fabulous for summer food - cucumber lime mint sorbet! It really was quite simple to make, and I keep telling myself it totally counts as a serving of veggies ;)  Plus it's only about 2 WW points!

Ingredients

2 large cucumbers, peeled and chopped
2 limes, zested and juiced
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup water
1 sprig of mint leaves

First, create a simple syrup by pouring the sugar and water into a sauce pan over medium heat, stirring until the sugar completely dissolves. Turn the heat down low, add the mint sprig, and let it simmer to infuse the simple syrup! While that's boiling, put the lime juice and cucumber (not the zest!) into a blender to puree it all. It comes out a little chunky but not too bad!

Remove the sprig from the simple syrup and pour it over the cucumber lime mixture. Stir it together and then pour it into an airtight plastic container through a mesh sieve to remove any terribly chunky bits. Stir the zest in now and put it in the freezer for 4-8 hours!







Once it's thoroughly chilled, put it into your ice cream maker (I have an attachment to my Kitchenaid) and follow the instructions. Mine was to stir for 7-12 minutes. Then place it in the freezer for at least 2 hours! After that, you're ready to eat! I think it's best eaten on a porch ;)